Expectacy-value

Expectancy-value theories

According to expectancy-value theory, behavior is a function of the expectancies one has and the value of the goal toward which one is working.  The following formula expresses the above:

B = f(E V)

Such an approach predicts that, when more than one behavior is possible, the behavior chosen will be the one with the largest combination of expected success and value. Expectancy-value theory has proved useful in the explanation of social behaviors, achievement motivation, and work motivation.

Expectancy-value theories hold that people are goal-oriented beings. The behaviors they perform in response to their beliefs and values are undertaken to achieve some end. The expectancy-value model of achievement motivation proposes that the overall tendency to achieve in a particular situation depends upon two stable motives--a motive for success and a motive to avoid failure--and the subjective evaluation of the probability of success in the situation.

Lewin used the concept of subjective probability to describe the probability which a person holds in the face of uncertainty that a behavior will result in the achievement of a particular goal. This measure of the likelihood of success or failure in reaching an objective is a central idea in later expectancy-value theories.

When this subjective probability is multiplied by the value a field has for a person, the result is a weighted value which influences a person to move away from a negatively value field towards one more positively charged.

Objectives may be abandoned or a person may be uncertain as to precisely what his or her goals are. This variability in goals over time has important implications for any attempt at persuasion, which aims at influencing what those goals are to be.

Behavioral decision theory or subjective expected utility (S.E.U.) theory is one of the most fully developed of the expectancy-value formulations. The likelihood of an event (which is subject to human influence) occurring (the expectancy variable) is seen as the subjective probability that the outcome will occur if a behavior is undertaken. The value variable (the subjectively determined utility of the goal) is multiplied by the expectancy. The product is the subjective expected utility.

In order to maximize one's outcomes, the individual chooses the S.E.U. with the highest number. Also included in the equation are terms for the probability of the outcome occurring if no action is taken and the utility of not achieving the desired outcome (usually negative). These terms are summed over all relevant outcomes and alternatives (both positive and negative) to arrive at the final S.E.U. which will indicate whether or not a person will decide to perform a given behavior.

Fishbein's theory of reasoned action or behavioral intentions is another widely accepted and well-developed expectancy-value theory. For Fishbein, behavior is a result of intentions. Intentions are functions of an individual's attitudes to the behavior in question and the individual's subjective norms. Attitudes result from the individual's beliefs (expectations) that a behavior will lead to a particular outcome (its subjective probability) and the individual's evaluation of that outcome (its subjective utility). The subjective norms are a combination of a person's beliefs of how significant others feel about the appropriateness of the behavior and the value the individual gives to such norms.

Another expectancy-value theory is Rotter's social learning theory. Rotter is concerned with three major antecedents of behavior. These are expectancies regarding the occurrence of specific outcomes (subjective probabilities), reinforcement values which are positively or negatively associated with outcomes (subjective utilities), and the psychological situation which presents the possible courses of behavior to a person. Taken together, the expectancies and reinforcement values determine a quantity called the behavior potential. The assumption in this theory is that a person will choose the alternative action which has the highest behavior potential. In other words, as in S.E.U. theory, the individual will seek to maximize his utility (which provides the motivation to act).

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